Photo credit: sfsphotography
American baritone Robert Mellon has been praised not only for his "glorious voice that burst[s] out brimming with life and vigor," but also for having "immense skill as an actor."
In the 2023-2024 season he will sing George (Of Mice and Men) in a return to Livermore Valley Opera. House debuts this season will be with Winter Opera Saint Louis as Leporello (Don Giovanni), Detroit Opera as Terry (Breaking the Waves), and Florida Grand Opera as Tonio (Pagliacci). Mr. Mellon will sing Cardinal 2/Servant/Oracle 2/and Inquisitor 2 in Philip Glass's opera Galileo Galilei with Opera Theatre of Saint Louis. During the summer, he will return to In Series Opera to sing the roles of the King and Death in a concert version of act 3 of Louis Talma's opera An Alcestiade.
During the 2022–2023 season, he debuted at Opera Tampa as Tonio (Pagliacci), Lyric Opera of Kansas City as Escamillo (Carmen) and Tulsa Opera as Taddeo (L'italiana in Algeri). He returned to Pensacola Opera to sing Marcello (La bohème) and to Syracuse Opera/Tri-Cities Opera for the title role in Le nozze di Figaro. He made a role debut as Dandini (La Cenerentola) with Opera Maine, where he has previously performed as Figaro (Le nozze di Figaro) and Papageno (Die Zauberflöte).
The 2021–2022 season saw his return to Opera de Oviedo in role debuts as Marcello (La bohème) and Gubetta (Lucrezia Borgia), having previously performed with the company as Simone (Eine Florentinische Tragödie) and Tonio (Pagliacci). He debuted with Opera Philadelphia as Marullo (Rigoletto) and Pensacola Opera as Papageno (Die Zauberflöte). With In-Series Opera, Mr. Mellon sang the role of Iago (Otello). He returned to Union Avenue Opera for the title role of Falstaff, where he sang the "honor aria" with an "authority and comic force" that made it a "genuine showstopper." That performance as Falstaff won him the St. Louis Theater Circle Award for Outstanding Achievement in Opera.
In previous seasons, Mr. Mellon performed with San Diego Opera as Schaunard (La boheme), Opera Las Vegas as Malatesta (Don Pasquale), Union Avenue Opera as Figaro (Il barbiere di Siviglia), and Syracuse Opera in the roles of Don Alfonso (Così fan tutte) and Leporello (Don Giovanni). He sang in the world premiere of Dear Erich with New York City Opera and performed as Willem/Usher/Clerk/Priest in the American premiere of Glass's The Trial with Opera Theatre of Saint Louis. In a double bill with Livermore Valley Opera, he sang the title role of Gianni Schicchi and delivered a performance of Simone (Eine Florentinishce Tragödie) that won the company the American Opera Award. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, he sang Simone in "robust, dark-hued tones that consistently rang out at the forefront of the musical texture...with a steely vocal edge that never interfered with the beauty and flexibility of his singing."
As a guest artist in 2014 with his alma mater, Manhattan School of Music, he performed the title role of Bloch's Macbeth in the American premiere of that work in the original French, a performance where his "dark baritone [was] full and fresh and quick with dramatic fire." Among his other roles are Sam (Trouble in Tahiti) and Pizarro (Fidelio).
Concert work includes the Mozart Requiem and Duruflé Requiem, Dvorák's Te Deum, Stravinsky's Pulcinella, Rossini's Petite Messe Solonelle, Bach's Magnificat, and Mussorgsky's Songs and Dances of Death. In a concert performance of La Belle et le Bête with Present Music he sang the roles of Le Père, Ludovic, and L'Usurier.
© 2023
by Robert Mellon